


That's the Beauty of a Secret

by bedbathandbeyonce



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bedbathandbeyonce/pseuds/bedbathandbeyonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a bunch of drabbles and one-shots</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jake Griffin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Jake Griffin didn't die?

The beginning had been hard for all of them, the 100 had lost many of their people due to weather, the Grounders and even the Mountain Men. But, they dealt with that because that’s what they did. Survive. When the Ark crashed down and the families were finally reunited with their children it was different. They weren’t the same kids who came down all those months ago. But there was still a ripple of ecstasy that came from having people you loved down with you again.

Bellamy watched the reunions from afar with Octavia tucked into his side. She was his family, and he was fortunate enough to have her with him through it all. So he took a step back and let the kids have their moment.

A head of golden hair popped up in his line of sight and his eyes immediately followed it. He knew she was coming to stand by him because by now they were family enough. Her eyes just met his when someone called her name.

“Clarke?”

It was like she was punched in the gut. Her face shattered, eyes no longer shining with happiness, smile no longer gracing her face. Instead she looked broken. She looked almost frightened. Bellamy felt his stomach lurch and felt the urge to wrap her up in an embrace.

“Clarke?” The voice called again distinctly male, a little rough.

This time she did turn and when she found the owner of the voice she let out this awful sob that tore through Bellamy. He never wanted to hear that again. But then she was running and hurtled herself into the arms of a man who had blonde hair that matched hers. Bellamy watched Clarke fold herself completely into him and have a brief but obviously serious conversation before her head snapped back up to face him.

Clarke gave him a huge smile and took the man’s hand, tugging him after her. The man was older and looked elated to be dragged around by Clarke, he followed without any hesitation or restraint. Clarke stopped in front of Bellamy and Octavia, still clamping tightly onto the man’s hand as if desperate for contact in any way. 

“Bellamy, Octavia, I would like you to meet my dad. Jake Griffin.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Jake Griffin was a surprise to everyone, and the details on his survival still make Bellamy confused. But when he asks Clarke to remind him again how Jake did it she’s exasperated.

“Goddammit Bellamy, I don’t even care, I’m just glad he’s not dead. Leave it alone already.”

So, Bellamy has learned to just appreciate Jake’s presence around camp. It’s amazing the impact he had on everyone. Abby is no longer irrational and angry. She’s balanced and level-headed. Jake brings out the best in her. And when Abby is happy, it means better morale for the rest of the camp. People get along better, decisions are being made quicker, and the air feels lighter somehow.

But Bellamy’s favorite part of Jake’s return is Clarke.(Not that his favorite part wouldn’t have been Clarke anyway but it’s this particular Clarke that’s the best) She’s beaming now. All the time. Everytime she looks at him she sends him this brilliant smile and it’s like the air just gets knocked out of his chest. It’s amazing and Bellamy never wants it to stop.

Jake himself is great. He’s funny, he’s a good talker, and he makes Bellamy feel like he can stand just a little taller. He just has that affect. Of course Jake makes Bellamy so extremely nervous because Bellamy needs Jake to like him. If Jake doesn’t like him, he doesn’t know what he’ll do(and no it has nothing to do with Clarke, honestly). Bellamy knows that he’s being ridiculous everytime he gets flustered or starts stammering around Jake because he’s a good man, but he just can’t help it.

It’s not until Jake drops into a council meeting that Jake sits down and really talks one on one with Bellamy. Of course, the meeting doesn’t run smoothly because Kane and the other council members are being absurd. So while Clarke manages to calm him down slightly with a squeeze to his bicep, Bellamy still screamed at the Council. After everyone filed out Clarke gave him a stern look that said we will talk about this later, then followed everyone else out. Bellamy let out an exasperated sigh running a hand through his hair before realizing that Jake was still there, leaning against the door watching him with those blue eyes that matched his daughters.

“Bellamy you have a good heart, I can see that. But you have to learn how to use that while being smart.”

Bellamy blanched. He didn’t have a good heart, he was a monster. He knew it so did everyone else. And he could live with that because they were still all alive and he had only done what he had to. But Jake said it with such easy conviction, like it couldn’t be any other way. Jake gave him a look before moving into the room and speaking again.

“Do you want some advice?”

“Yes sir.” 

Jake laughed, something that seemed to come naturally to him.

“First, just call me Jake not sir.”

He waited for Bellamy’s response and forged on, seemingly satisfied when Bellamy gave him a sharp nod.

“Second, you’ve got to play it more logically.”

Jake dove into an explanation on how the Council meetings work. The best ways to work the room, to get a point across efficiently. They talked and discussed politics all night. It became a thing between them. Whenever Bellamy needed to go over something or had a question, he found himself turning to Jake.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

A few months passed and everyone had fallen seamlessly into a routine. Fights between the 100 and the Arkers were at a minimum and the Council was finally cooperating and making positive changes, in large part thanks to Jake’s help with Bellamy’s political skills.

It was one of the night’s that Jake brought Bellamy a cup with a little moonshine to share while they talked. They were discussing a new irrigation system that Bellamy and Clarke had worked up earlier that week when Clarke came bounded over to them, snatching the flask from Bellamy’s hand. He made an indignant noise but made no real attempt to reclaim it.

“Rude, princess.” he mumbled under his breath but Clarke still heard and just snorted.

“You snooze you lose.” she responded immediately, sticking her tongue at him because she’s mature.

Jake looked on fondly at the exchange.

“So, what are my two favorite men talking about.” Clarke asked, handing her father the flask.

Bellamy, tried not to react to that but was sure he didn’t manage to keep his face blank. Him and Clarke had been getting closer lately and he knew where he stood, but was still uncertain about the whole thing, so when Clarke said things like that it affected him. 

“You actually Clarke.” Jake smiled down at his daughter who beamed back up at him.

“Of course you are, I’m the best.” She moved so her back was resting against Bellamy’s knees and his hand drifted to her hair, absently playing with it. 

“Okay Princess, don’t get a big head now.” Bellamy teased.

The three of them bantered like that for a while before Miles came to fetch Clarke back to the Med Bay. Clarke got up with a sigh, but still smiled at her father. 

“Well this was fun, but duty calls. We can’t all be slackers like you two.”

With that she leaves a smacking kiss to her dad's cheek and runs off to the MedBay. Bellamy watches her retreating form for a moment before turning back to Jake to find he was already looking at him.

“What?” Bellamy asked confused.

Jake smiled, all teeth, “Bellamy Blake don’t tell me you don’t know you like my daughter.”

Bellamy splutters for a minute, considers denying it, but ultimately just nods. Jake laughs again and Bellamy relaxes into his chair. The two go back to normal conversation and Bellamy is glad for the change in topic because while he can admit his feelings, Bellamy doesn’t want to actually explore them just yet. There are so many things that he still has to figure out. But the one thing Bellamy is absolutely sure of, is that he is glad he got to meet Jake Griffin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I stole this off of tumblr so thanks for the inspiration. I might write a second chapter but I kind of like the end so probably not. But if you guys want it I'll see what I can do about that. Anyway thanks for reading, theres more coming, hopefully soon.


	2. 27. I'm pregnant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy is nervous because Clarke's acting weird

Clarke was acting strange. Not strange in the way that would lead Bellamy to worry that he did something wrong, she was just acting particularly un-Clarke-like. She’s been up before the crack of dawn, a feat in itself since it usually takes him tremendous effort and copious amounts of caffeine to do so regularly, she’s been extremely skittish. So Bellamy was worried. Naturally. On the fifth day in a row that Clarke woke up before six, Bellamy decided to confront her about it. If something was going on with her he wanted to know about it.

The only problem was that Clarke seemed to always dodge out the moment he was about it bring it up.(For example the other day Bellamy found her getting emotional over a movie and was just about to ask what was wrong when she got up, wiped her face and told him she had plans with Raven.) She’s been coming up with ways to distract him that are distinctly unfair too. How can he concentrate on anything when she’s standing in only his shirt, Bellamy cares he really does, but God, he’s only human.

It has been a week and Bellamy is no closer to figuring out what’s wrong. Now he’s starting to get actually nervous. Something was obviously going on and for some reason Clarke didn’t want to tell him, which is okay sure she doesn’t have to tell him everything, but that would be nice. He wants to tell her everything and he thought the sentiment was returned. So he’s feeling vaguely insecure. He knows Clarke loves him, he knows that logically she would not endure all his historical rants with that soft expression on her face otherwise, but she’s not letting him in. So he’s worried. Naturally.

Clarke is painting when he finally decides to really confront her, no distractions, no dodging the question. He was going to get an answer. But when he got to the spare room he cleared out for her when she moved in, he leaned against the doorway to take her in. Clarke had her hair up in a messy bun, tendrils of her blonde hair falling across her face. Streaks of paint stretched across her cheek from where she went to wipe at her hair before, and she’s so beautiful.

She must feel him watching because she turns to him with a smile, her hand coming up to put her hair behind her ear, and she leaves behind another streak of blue. It makes her eyes pop. “Hey Bell.”

He gives her a lopsided grin before he remembers why he was going to talk to her, and his smile falls. “Clarke we need to talk.”

“Okay..” Clarke sounded nervous but turned to him fully anyway. “I’m all ears.”

“What’s going on with you?”

Clarke’s eyes widen slightly and her mouth forms a small ‘o’ but before she could say anything Bellamy talks again.

“You know you can talk to me about anything right? And if you can’t I understand that too but I don’t know if you know that I’m here for you. Always, no matter what, you just have to tell me if something is going on.”

Bellamy isn’t prepared for the smile that Clarke send towards him, all happy and fond.

“Of course I know I can talk to you Bell, and there is actually something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

Bellamy didn’t say anything just went to sit next to her on the bench, and waited for her to go on.

“Okay so I don’t really know how to say it, so I’m just going to say it okay?” Clarke took a deep breath “I’m pregnant.”

Bellamy stared at her for the longest time, Clarke looked back assessing him until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Bell this is the part where you say something. Please, anything.” 

It was the scared tone of her voice that snapped Bellamy out of his trance. Pregnant. She’s pregnant. A smile tugged over his face, that was goofy and big, and real. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight and revealed in the sound of her tinkling laughter. Then he pulled back and looked at her,

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just wanted to be sure, like absolutely positive before I told you. So I went to the doctor and I had to wait for results, and then the lab got backed up. But I was always going to. I almost slipped up a few times.”

“This is a good thing right. You want to keep it?” Bellamy asked.

Clarke nodded with a small smile on her face, “Yeah, as long as you’re in it with me.”

“Well, this seems a good a time as any, hold on, don’t move.” Bellamy got up and ran out of the room only to come back with a small box in his hands.

He knelt down in front of Clarke and her mouth was open in shock, her hand covering it. Bellamy grabbed it in his own and watched her expression change to one of joy. He was so, so happy right now.

“Clarke Griffin, will you marry me?”

And Clarke laughed, her voice ringing in his ears. He wants to hear that sound forever.

“Yes, you idiot, I’ll marry you.”

Once the ring was on her finger and it got the proper amount of admiration, Clarke flung herself at Bellamy. When she kissed him, their mouths clashed together before it turned softer. They showed each other they loved in other in their touches.

After, when Bellamy and Clarke were breathless and satisfied, Clarke turned over to lay her head on his naked chest. Bellamy pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“For the record, I would like to point out that I was planning on proposing anyway.”

Clarke grinned, hiding her face into the crook of his neck. “Noted.”


	3. 7. I almost lost you

Clarke had just gotten Athena from the pound three weeks ago and still the dumb dog refused to be put on a leash no matter how hard she tried. And boy did she try. Her efforts were futile, and resulted in three broken dishes, a box of metal contraptions Raven left to fall over, and the screen door to be ripped open. Clarke only had time to close her door before sprinting after Athena down the road. (she thanks God that she doesn’t live on a busy street).

Just when Clarke thinks that she might be able to catch her, a man with the most unruly brown hair comes around the corner right into the path of Athena. Luckily for Clarke, that caused her to stop in her tracks. Unfortunately for the man, that meant that Athena practically mowed him down.

Clarke, who finally caught up and is slightly out of breath, hurriedly hooks Athena to the leash before she gets any ideas, whispering loudly, “I almost lost you.” Then turns to the man, who is extremely hot, and blushes deeply, “I am so so so sorry. I was trying to get her on the leash and she just had other ideas and I just got her so she’s not properly trained so I” Clarke stops when she realizes she rambling and blushes even more. She’s sure that it spreads across her entire face and is wholly unattractive. “I’m sorry, are you okay?”

He smiles and her stomach flips.

“It’s fine really, I’m good so no harm no foul right?” His voice is deep and gravelly and perfect, and fuck. “What’s her name.”

Clarke takes a minute to process his question and when she does she stammers out her reply. “Oh, uh, it’s Athena.”

His eyebrows raise and the side of his mouth quirks into a smirk. “Like the Greek Goddess?”

“Yeah, when I got her I thought she looked wise, but it’s been proven to be the wrong assumption.” Clarke sends an exasperated look towards Athena, only to sigh when she sees that Athena has managed to tangle her leash around their legs.

The man notices the leashes as well, and bends down at the same time as Clarke to untie them causing them to bump heads and both of them to fall on their asses. Clarke is appalled and the look on her face causes the man to let out a loud laugh. 

“Oh my god I am so sorry. Again.” 

“Well that was partially my fault, so I’m sorry too.” After untangling themselves he stands up and offers Clarke a hand.

She take it and his practically engulfs hers, and the contrast of their skin tones has her staring for a minute before she shakes her head.

“Well, this has been sufficiently embarrassing, so.” Clarke trails off and points in a direction, meaning to walk away from him, but he just jogs up to walk beside her.

“You know, I could use a coffee as a ‘sorry I ran you over twice with the help of my dog’.”

Clarke looks at him for a moment to gauge his seriousness, then stops to look at him straight on. He does the same. 

“Clarke Griffin.” She sticks out her hand, and his mouth quirks up as he grabs her hand again.

“Bellamy Blake.”

Clarke nods decisively, “Grounders has the best coffee in town.”

“Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is kinda short, and I don't think it's the best thing ever, but it is kind of cute. Hoped you liked it, I did this instead of writing an essay, so procrastination is good for something right?


	4. Cheerleader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an excerpt from a one-shot that I'm writing called "I found my self a cheerleader" but I don't know if it will actually make an appearance in it because I can't find a good place to put it. But I really like it and thought it deserved to be seen. Hopefully you'll see it again later but for now here you go

The rain was coming down hard when Clarke came out of the locker room cheer bag in tow.

“Fucking fantastic” she muttered. 

What a great day to not have a ride. All the other girls had gone home about fifteen minutes ago, but Clarke had wanted to run a little farther on the treadmill. “Great idea Griffin, today of all days.” Before she made her way the 2 miles it would take to get back to her house Clarke dug through her bag looking for something, anything that might block the rain. After realizing that the only thing that her bag was good for was smelling like feet and holding her pompoms, she huffed a sigh and steeled herself to step into the rain. 

Clarke was barely two blocks out and she was entirely soaked. For a while she tried to use her bag as a shield but that just got waterlogged and heavy. So now with every step her shoes squelched and Clarke’s hair fell in all directions and her clothes clung to her skin. Clarke patted her hair subconsciously trying in vain to fix it, she wasn’t even halfway there yet. A truck, one of the only cars she’s seen driving, pulled up to a stop a few feet ahead of her and a head of curly brown hair stuck out the window to yell back at her.

“What the hell are you doing Princess?” Bellamy waited for her to walk over to his window so she wouldn’t have to shout. 

“Walking home.” she answered simply, shrugging as if she wasn’t standing in a torrential downpour. 

“No shit, why?” 

For some reason this made Clarke angry. Maybe it was because here he was sitting in his truck not a drop of water on him and she was standing outside of it having a casual conversation while she was practically drowning and he had the nerve to seem angry. Like he had the right. 

“Did you need something or are you just planning on making me stand here.” she snapped. 

Bellamy raised his eyebrow but otherwise took it in stride. “Get in.”

Clarke blinked, surprised. Looking at him she could tell he was serious but she wasn’t sure what to do. This was uncharted territory, they’ve only talked to each other a couple times when she was hanging out with Octavia and those were mostly fights. 

“I’ll get your car wet.” Clarke blurted out.

Bellamy looked at her like she was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out but her response didn’t deter him. “Clarke, get in.” 

She gave a sharp nod and moved to get in the passenger seat. When she slid in her clothes stuck to her skin and the seat making her squirm uncomfortably. She noticed a puddle begin to form at her feet and turned to find Bellamy chuckling when he followed her gaze. The sound did something to her stomach that she didn’t want to think about. Before pulling away from the curb Bellamy reached into the back and pulled up a pair of sweats that looked as if they’d seen better days and handed them to Clarke. Taking the clothes from him Clarke looked first at them and then back at Bellamy. 

“Come on Princess you’re soaked, if you don’t put those on you’ll catch a cold.” 

Clarke nodded not sure how to deal with a nice Bellamy. But still she just looked at him for a moment. 

“Bellamy can you turn around?” 

A blush seemed to creep up his cheeks, hardly noticeable but definitely there. “Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry.” 

Now Clarke smirked, turned her own body away from his slightly. Before taking off her shirt she took a glance back to see Bellamy had firmly shut his eye and had turned away as far as he could. She peeled her clothes off as fast as she could but they kept getting caught on her skin. When she finished she had to force herself not to pull the sweatshirt up and take a large sniff. Telling him he could turn back around, Bellamy pulled his truck away from the curb. 

They didn’t talk for a couple of minutes until Bellamy asked where she lived. After that the stream of talk was steady. He asked if she was as excited as O about their first home game and she asked if he thought he’d do well in the game which led them to arguing about which football team was the best. Clarke didn’t even notice that he’d pulled into her driveway because she was too busy telling him why her team was better. When she did stop Bellamy just smiled like they had a pleasant conversation even though she’d just screamed at him.

“Well here you are Princess, and lucky for you the rain let up sometime between ‘they couldn’t catch the ball even if it was their baby Bellamy’ and ‘you can’t actually believe that they have a better defense.’” 

When he imitated her voice, his had gone up a couple octaves making him sound ridiculous. Clarke couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I do not sound like that.” she managed to get out while still laughing. 

“Whatever you say Princess.” 

And then they were quiet for a moment until Clarke bent over to collect her things. Climbing out of the car she felt Bellamy’s eyes on her. Before she shut the door she turned, “Thanks Bellamy.” 

His face scrunched together into something that Clarke couldn’t figure out before lighting back up with a smirk, “Every Princess needs a knight in shining armour right.” 

Clarke laughed softly. “Right, or just one with a shitty truck.” 

Bellamy feigned horror hand coming up to his chest, “Princess, my truck is not shitty.”

The corner or Clarke’s mouth twitched in an effort not to smile, but in the end she failed, a smile blooming across her face. “Thanks again Bellamy.” 

He returned her smile with a much softer one, “Anytime Princess.” 

Bellamy was just about to pull out when Clarke’s dad pulled in effectively blocking him in. He hopped out of his own car with a grin, hooking his arm around Clarke’s shoulder. 

“Hey Princess, who’s this?” 

“Oh that’s Bellamy, he dropped me off.”

Jake frowned down at her and pulled on a piece of her wet hair. “You tried to walk home in the rain didn’t you.”

Clarke gave him a small smile and brought her to stand in front of Bellamy’s car window. “Dad?” 

Clarke asked but he ignored her motioning for Bellamy to roll down his window. Bellamy obliged with a glance at Clarke, a question behind his eyes only to get a shrug in response from the girl. She had no idea what he was doing either. 

“Bellamy right?”

“Yes sir.” Bellamy looked back at Clarke’s dad.

“Oh boy please call me Jake, sir make me feel old.” Jake feigns wounded a hand coming to rest over his heart.

“So Bellamy how’d you like to stay for dinner since you rescued my daughter, and apparently clothed her too.” Jake’s smile was wide and happy but Bellamy was turning red again and he spluttered.

Clarke had never seen him at a loss for words and took pity on him elbowing her dad in the stomach. “Dad come on he probably has to get home.” 

 

“Sir, I mean Jake, that’s really kind of you but I don’t want to intrude.” he managed to get out. 

“Nonsense, you’ll tell your family your eating out and come and eat with us. Besides Clarke’s mom just called me and got roped into working a double at the hospital so we have extra food.” Clarke looked up at her dad and made a face at him that he ignored. “Come on Bellamy I’d like to get to know you, you seem like a good man.” 

Bellamy looked between Clarke and her dad one more time before nodding. “Okay, if you’re sure.” 

And he stepped from the car making Jake WHOOP! in victory. Clarke smiled at him and motioned for Bellamy to follow. When he caught up to walk beside her, he took the bag from her hands. 

“Bellamy I can carry my own bag.” He looks at Clarke almost as if he’s surprised and rubs the back of his neck.

“Sorry I always take O’s bag for her, it’s a habit I guess.” Clarke laughed and Bellamy shot her a glare. 

“What, why are you laughing at me?”

“It’s just Octavia, she’s always throwing her stuff at people.”

In the doorway Jake stood and watched the pair make their way to him before interrupting. “I don’t know about you too but I’m starving, let’s go.” and he disappeared into the house. The two followed him in but Bellamy got caught up looking at all the photos. hung on the way.

“Dad aren’t we ordering Thai tonight!” 

“Yes we are!” at this Bellamy looks away from the pictures and at Clarke quirking an eyebrow. 

“I thought you’d have extra meant for your mom.” He said talking to Clarke but Jake popped his head in from the kitchen to answer, “Well we’ll order more than we can actually eat, and then there will be extra, that make you feel better?” 

“Loads.” was his reply. 

Jake smiled at him again, and it seemed like such a natural fixture on his face. “So I’m going to call, shout your orders at me.” 

Clarke immediately screamed what she wanted and so Bellamy did the same, though with some time to think. Noticing him looking at the pictures Clarke walked over. “That’s my favorite.” She says with the ghost of a smile on her lips. The picture was of a young Clarke sitting atop her father shoulders at the beach. “That day dad had off work and told me I could skip school. Mom thought that was totally unfair so she called in sick and we all went to the beach. Right before this picture was taken I had cut my foot on a rock and was crying hysterically.” 

She tucked a piece of wet hair behind her ear and tugged on a sleeve of his sweater(it was ridiculously long on her) and Bellamy just watched her, as she looked at the picture. “But dad said something to me, I don’t even remember what, and then I was on top of his shoulders laughing. I still have that scar.” Now she turned to him, “Sorry, you didn’t want to hear about that.” 

And she almost turned away but he had already started talking. “No, I did.” And it’s silent for a moment before he starts talking again. “I remember I did something like that with O one time. It was her birthday, I don’t know if she remembers.”

Then it was silent again and they were observing each other until Jake came out of the kitchen with a clap of his hands. 

“Alright kids, who wants to watch the game.” Clarke rolls her eyes “Let me go put my stuff in the dryer.” and pads away, presumably in the direction of the laundry room. 

Jake turns to Bellamy, “How about you Bellamy, up for America’s pastime.”

“Yeah, I could watch a game.”

“I should warn you, Clarke and I can be a little intense about football.” at that Bellamy snorts. 

“Don’t I know it.” at Jake’s questioning glance Bellamy explained the car ride. Jake’s laugh came freely and was contagious. 

“And you didn’t run for the hills, good man.” A hand came to clap his shoulder, Jake gave him a light squeeze before leading him into the living room.


	5. 31. You lied to me

Bellamy was seething. His jaw was working and he was pacing back and forth in the living room, unable to contain the energy that the rage he felt had built up in him. From the kitchen Clarke watched him, eyes calculating, piercing him with the deep blue. But he knew she was just as upset, she was just better at hiding it then he was.

Just when Bellamy thought he was about to lose it, the front door opened. He stilled himself and clenched his fists at his side, sending his most intimidating stare to the girl standing in the doorway.

“Shit.” she whispered.

“Language.” Clarke snapped from behind Bellamy. She was closer than he expected, but he didn’t look back at her, just continued to look at his daughter. 

“Mom, Dad.” She tried but was stopped by Bellamy’s hand coming up in a motion to tell her to stop. 

“Sit.” Bellamy growled.

She just lifted her chin in defiance, and the motion reminded him so much of Clarke that he blinked. Then he repeated himself.

“Cassandra, sit.”

This time she gulped at the sound of her full name and moved to sit on the couch. Bellamy felt Clarke come to stand right next to him and watched her cross her arms and stare down at their daughter. He was glad that they were in this together.

“Care to explain where you were last night.” Clarke phrased it as a question but said it like a demand.

Cassie fiddled with her backpack, trying to avoid their eyes. A nervous habit. A sign of guilt. She heaved a large sigh.

“Mom, you would have never let me go.” Cassie explained in a whine. “I just went out to a concert, it’s really not a big deal.”

Bellamy watched her for a minute before running a hand through his hair. “You lied to me Cassie. You lied to us.” He motioned between Clarke and himself.

Cassie’s face dropped, but she didn’t say anything so Bellamy continued. “You lied and you were out all night. Your mother and I were worried sick. Anything could have happened to you all because you wanted to go to a concert.” 

“But Dad, I.”

“No, I’m not finished.” Bellamy carried on. “What you did tonight was irresponsible and reckless, you disobeyed us, and you could have gotten hurt.” The thought makes Bellamy sick and he recoils a little, right into Clarke’s side. 

She rubs a hand on his arm comfortingly, “Cassie, we’re very disappointed in you.”

“Mom come on be reasonable, I know that you and dad have done worse things than having fun.” Cassie tries to plead.

Clarke shakes her head, “Enough, this isn’t about you having fun, it’s about you lying. You’re grounded for the foreseeable future. Go to your room.”

Cassie lets out a frustrated groan and stomps up to her room leaving Clarke and Bellamy in their living room.  
“What are we going to do with her.” Clarke murmurs, resting her back against Bellamy's chest.

Bellamy chuckles, “She’s too much like you for your liking Princess?”

Clarke spins around indignant, “Hey! You mean she’s too much like you.”

Bellamy laughs again pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose, “Whatever you say Princess.”


	6. Under the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Found this post on tumblr and thought I'd give it a go thanks to poemjunkie for inspiring this
> 
> poemjunkie  
> Let it never be forgotten that my brother is 13 years older than me, and when he went off to college I was deeply entrenched in my “The Little Mermaid” obsession, and when he and a group of friends went out to a karaoke place, there was a group of girls having fun singing Disney songs and my brother got up and busted out a perfect rendition of “Under the Sea” and long story short I was the reason my brother met his wife.

Tonight was the first night in weeks, maybe even months, that Bellamy has had time to go out. Taking care of Octavia(who had just turned six), working on his degree, and working two jobs has left him with little to no time for anything but sleep. So it was completely natural for him to tear up a little when his next door neighbor Maya Vie offered to watch Octavia for the night. Bellamy needed a night out. 

The minute he knew that Octavia would be taken care of, he called Miller who answered with a grunt.

“Hey I’m free tonight we’re going out.”

“What if I’m busy.” Miller’s voice was gruff, either from sleep or indignation Bellamy couldn’t tell.

“Miller, my schedule finally lined up so I have off everything, and I haven’t had a night out in probably months.”

He heard Miller heave a huge sigh, like being his friend was a huge pain. “Alright fine, we’re going to The Dropship though.”

“I don’t care where we go, as long as it’s out and I can get a beer.”

…………………….

The Dropship was an old dingy bar that the new owners renovated. Now instead of the dive bar it once was, it was a dive bar with a karaoke machine. Maybe dive bar is too harsh on the place, but the building is musty, and the floorboards creak but the place has a lively air to it, like it was so well loved that it couldn’t help but feel kind of nice inside. Plus, the location made the place a hotspot. It was only a couple blocks away from the local college and had a reputation for never carding, so needless to say, the place was always packed.

The fact that Miller suggested it was kind of surprising though. He usually liked to keep a low profile, hit up bars that didn’t draw a lot of a crowd so he wouldn’t be bothered while he drank his beer, and Bellamy never had a reason to get a drink anywhere Miller wasn’t. So the change of pace was kind of startling for him. 

Miller on the other hand looked like he fit in perfectly here. He wasn’t actively scowling, maybe even smiling a little, conversing with a couple of grad students at the bar when Bellamy walked in. It made his stomach lurch in an odd way because he didn’t get to know this Miller. He was missing things in his friends lives, and that’s not to say he’d rather give up Octavia because he would die before that happened, it’s just disconcerting and even a little sad to actually witness it.

Once Miller noticed Bellamy, he waved him over to the chair next to him, sliding him a beer.

“Good to finally see you man.”

Bellamy grins at his friend, “You too Miller, it’s been forever.”

“So how are things going..” Miller paused as if to think about which part of his life to question, until he settled on, “ you know with, well, everything?”

Bellamy huffed out a laugh before taking a sip of the beer. “It’s all just really hectic right now, you know. Octavia is just really confused, and I’ve got so much on my plate it’s hard, trying to balance everything.”

Miller studies Bellamy. He watches as his friend cradles the beer in his hands and the weight on his shoulders. “Hey Monty, we need a round of shots.”

Mont’s smiles at the request “Coming right up boss.”

They both slam down their shots quickly 

Bellamy vaguely hears the announcer introducing a group of girls onstage for their turn at karaoke. What he did notice was the beginning music to I’ve Got A Dream from Tangled and couldn’t stop the groan that escaped his lips. Miller gave him a look but Bellamy only responded by gesturing towards the stage. But Miller still didn’t understand the reason Bellamy reacted so he explained.

“Octavia has been on a Disney kick and I kind of wanted to get away from that for a night. I love her, I do, but holy fuck could I do without all the Disney songs.”

Miller let out a loud laugh that had Bellamy glaring at him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I can totally imagine you in a pink dress letting O do your hair while she watches Disney movies.”

Bellamy’s lips twitched upwards, “Yeah well I’d like to see you face the aftermath of telling her no and then see if you’re still laughing.”

Miller leaned over a bumped his shoulder, all affection “Yeah I’ll leave that to you.” 

Bellamy grins, looking back over to the stage where the girls were in the middle of their song. They were awful, but all of them were gorgeous. There were three of them up there, one was a hispanic girl with long brown who was practically all legs, the other brunnette was more intense. her features were sharper and she had on heavy eye-makeup that made it seem like she was ready to go to war. But the third girl is who caught Bellamy’s eye. her blonde hair was wound up on her head in an intricate braid and she was mesmerizing.

While Bellamy was checking out the hot blonde, Miller had started up a conversation with Monty. He laughed and ducked his head to hid his smile, bringing his attention back onto the girl. It was Monty who noticed that Bellamy’s attention was elsewhere.

“You should go over and say hi.”

Bellamy whipped his head back, “What?”

Mont gave him a small smile, “I know her, she’s great. You should go and say hi.”

Bellamy shook his head, “No, I’m just here to relax.” he was about to add and to hang out with Miller, but Miller seemed to be preoccupied anyway. Looking between the two men Bellamy made up his mind. “But I can relax over there as well as over here.”

Miller claps Bellamy on the back with a, “atta boy” and turns back to Monty. Bellamy has never seen Miller so into someone before and it’s honestly adorable but also a little nauseating so some space might do him good.

As Bellamy walked over the latina girl and the blonde left the stage leaving the intense one to perform a song on her own. They sat down on one of the tables in front of the stage and Bellamy made his way over to stand next to them.

“Well that was quite the performance.”

The girls look over at him, both eyes assessing. The latina spoke first, “Can we help you?”

Bellamy is almost surprised by the outburst but he just shoots up an eyebrow, “What a guy can’t just compliment a girl's karaoke rendition of I’ve Got a Dream?”

They both give him an unimpressed stare so Bellamy sighs. “Okay so my friend Miller over there is flirting with the bartender and the guy, Monty I think, he said he knew you and that I should go say hi. I took the hint and got out of their way, and also decided to actually say hi because that performance was something.”

Now the girls were smiling a little, “Yeah we kicked ass. I’m Raven and that's Clarke.”

“I’d say so, I mean it was great really but definitely could have been done better.”

At that Clarke scoffs, “As if you could do any better.”

Bellamy just raises an eyebrow at her, “Wanna bet?”

Clarke studies him for a moment as if assessing if Bellamy is joking or not. She must find that he’s serious because she smiles, “Fine, you go up there and perform a perfect rendition of a Disney song, of which me and Raven are the judges, then we’ll buy your drinks for the rest of the night.” Raven made a noise of protest at being put in the middle of the bet but Clarke ignored her and went on, “And if you don’t do it perfectly, you have to bu both our drinks for the rest of the night.”

Bellamy stuck out his hand “You’ve got a deal Princess.”

Clarke glared at him and he winced, he hadn’t meant to say the nickname out loud. Now he was standing with his arm stretched out in fron of him feeling like an idiot until Clarke finally grasped his hand.

“Deal.”  
…………………….

Bellamy felt like a complete idiot. He couldn’t believe that he was actually doing this. But here he was standing off to the side of the stage as the announcer calls him up. “Welcome newcomer Bellamy Blake who will be singing his debut number tonight.” There was applause dispersed throughout the place and the first face he saw was Miller’s. He was looking at him half amused half confused. But Bellamy couldn’t let Clarke win. He was a lot of things and probably irrationally into winning bets was one of them.

Walking onto the spot set a bundle of nerves, but looking at the way Clarke leaned into Raven and the two started to laugh steeled them. He saw the intense girl return to the table and he grabbed the mike, and Clarke pointed the girls attention his way.

“This one goes out to my new friend Clarke.” He flashes a smile at her and sees her duck her head, hair falling into her face.

Then the notes start up and Bellamy sings the song as he would if he was in his living room with Octavia, TV on the highest volume it could be on dancing and singing along to the movie. This one was easier to do than most because Octavia seemed to be on a Little Mermaid kick, and they’d watched the movie three times in one night just a few days ago. Bellamy is panting with the effort his performance took and taking in the loud applause by the end of it. He smiles wide and gives a dramatic bow before heading back to the table.

Clarke is practically vibrating in her seat from sheer excitement, Raven is less enthusiastic but still obviously impressed and the third girl remains impassive. But Bellamy doesn’t really care about her opinion, his gaze is stuck on Clarke beaming at him anyway.

“Well Princess what’d you think.”

“Oh my god.”

“That good huh?”

Raven laughed next to them, “Dude, I’m not even sure what that was or where it came from. I honestly wasn’t expecting that but I will gladly pay for your beer because that was epic.”

Bellamy smiled over at her sheepishly, his hand going to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah well I’ve had practice.” As soon as the words escape his mouth, he knows they weren’t the right thing to say because Clarke sits straight up and whips her head towards him.

“Oh my god.” And she bursts out laughing, head tilted back, deep belly laughing. Bellamy is stunned for a moment. Until the intense girl's gaze unfreezes him.

“No no no no no, that’s not what I meant.”

Clarke wipes her eyes to collect the tears that have pooled there. “You mean to say that you don’t dance around in your home singing Disney songs to impress girls you meet at karaoke bars?”

“No. I mean yes.” Bellamy heaves out a frustrated groan bringing a hand face. “Half of that statement is right and the other is not and I have a good explanation as to why I promise I’m not some creep or weirdo.”

Now all three of the girls were looking at him with mild interest but Clarke could obviously tell that she hit a nerve or was close to it because the next thing he knew he was being dragged away. Clarke’s hand was small in his but she held on firmly and brought him to one of the few empty tables in the place.

“Okay so that started out fun and got weird fast.” She swung up into the chair and looked at him expectantly until he finally took the seat opposite hers. “Wanna talk about it to a complete stranger.”

Bellamy gives her a small smile, “We’re not complete strangers, I did just serenade you with Under the Sea. I’d have us at at least acquaintances by now.”

Clarke chuckles and then concedes, “Okay wanna talk about it to an acquaintance.”

Bellamy played with his straw, he didn’t want her pity but when he looked up at her he just started to talk. “My mom died a few months back,” he saw her face change and he continues quickly. “And don’t say you're sorry because I’m not, not really. She wasn’t the best but she was my mom you know. Anyway my sister is six and I’ve been taking care of her since then.”

Clarke is silent for a moment, just absorbing the information. She’s looking at him strangely but Bellamy can’t quite figure out what to make of it. He thinks she’s going to tell him that he’s heroic or whatever bullshit people spew when they find out he took Octavia in when he didn’t have to, but he did have to. She’s family. She’s all he has, and he’s about to stop her before she can say that it’s not necessary, he’s only doing what anyone would. Instead Clarke asks, “So what about the Disney songs?”

Bellamy is so startled by that question that he actually laughs. “Oh boy, Octavia is on this big disney kick. She’s been on it since she was born basically but this week, no this month has been Little Mermaid and I am so chalk full of Disney princess songs that it would shock you.”

“Well how about you tell me more about it over dinner?”

Bellamy chokes on his beer, looking at her for a moment too long in silence.

“I mean you don’t have to, I just thought-” Bellamy grabs Clarke’s hand in the middle of the table and rubs his thumb across her knuckles.

“Clarke, I’d like that.”

Clarke is staring at the movement his finger is making on her hand but when she looks back up at him, her smile grows wide.

Dinner goes great, and Bellamy thanks Octavia three years later at their wedding for obsessively watching Disney movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that didn't turn out quite the way I'd hoped it would, but that's ok. Tell me if you liked it or if you didn't. thanks for reading


	7. You lied to me(2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not a second part to chapter 8.  
> This is a surfing story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about surfing so I'm sorry if I get anything wrong.

The first time Bellamy sees Clarke, she’s at the beach with Raven. He noticed her first because of the loud laugh she seemed unable to control. He continued to notice her because she was beautiful, and when she laughed she threw her head back and her golden hair flew behind her and she was just radiant. He saw her there everyday after that but not once did she go in the water, a rarity for the small surf community. He ends up asking Miller, one of the kids he’s been hanging out with since he moved here, and Miller tells Bellamy that she was a legend. She had raw talent, she could really work a wave, and she used to be great. Miller shows him a video of Clarke taking first place in a competition and Bellamy doesn’t understand how someone who looks so natural in the water, won’t even look at it for long periods of time.

Meeting her is a total accident on his part, not so much on Miller’s. Bellamy had been sending longing glances her direction for weeks now and Miller was going to throw up if Bellamy didn’t do anything about it, so being the good friend he is, he gave Bellamy a little push. Literally. Although it wasn’t a little push, it was more like a shove that had Bellamy lose his footing and practically knock Clarke and Raven over. Bellamy curses first to himself and then when he sees who he ran into he curses aloud.

She’s standing there her hair tugged into a braid that makes a crown on top of her head, blue eyes the color of the ocean stretched wide. Her friend looks startled too but once she sees his face completely slack looking at Clarke, his jaw working to say something, she just smirks at him knowingly. Miller steps up and shoves Bellamy again, much softer this time, meant to shake him out of his daze. 

“Hey Clarke, Raven. Sorry about that, we were just messing around and Blake here is kind of a klutz.” Miller shakes his head as if to say what can you do and smiles warmly at the two girls. Which is more emotion than Bellamy has seen from him in a while. Miller is usually stoic and unendingly unimpressed, unless they were talking to Monty.

Clarke and Raven both seemed to appraise him, eyes raking up and down his body, making him stand a littler taller, before Clarke decided to speak up.

“I haven’t seen you around here, are you new to town?”

 

“Yeah I just moved here from Virginia.”

Clarke seems to be analyzing him while Raven just seems to be appreciating his chest. So he raised his eyebrow at her, pointed. She just gave him a predatory smile. Clarke looks between the two and crosses her arms.

“Well it was nice to meet you, but me and Raven have actually got to be going.” Clarke tugs Raven with her before turning back with a shout. “See you around.”

He hears Raven say to Clarke, “Well he was delicious.” but before he can hear anything else Miller brings his attention back to him with a punch to the arm.

“Come on dude, let’s surf.”

. . . . . . . . . 

His next meeting with Clarke also happens to be an accident. He was grocery shopping when he lost Octavia, and when he was rounding the aisle with the candy-because Octavia can always be found trying to smuggle more candy- he runs right into her. Again.

“Sorry.” He bends quickly to pick up the items she dropped at the same time as Clarke does and their heads bang into each other. Bellamy’s hand comes to his head, “Fuck, I’m really sorry.”

Clarke is gracious enough to laugh, her own hand on her head. “It’s fine, you must just have a penchant for running into people.”

“Actually, I’m usually better at walking than this.”

“Ahh so it’s just me then.” Clarke smiles at the blush that grows across Bellamy’s cheeks.

Bellamy stammers only to receive a smirk, “Shut up.”

It was then that Octavia decided to bound up from a completely different aisle, but her arms still full of junk food he no doubt would be guilted into buying even though it had no nutritional value, and hurdle herself into the conversation. Octavia was a force of nature that way. 

“Okay so, I know what you’re going to say,” and her voice goes gruff in a horrible imitation of him, “O, put those back where you found them, they’re like 98% sugar, go grab a carrot.” Octavia pauses for a moment pointing a finger at him, “Which by the way who even likes carrots, they’re basically dirt and a stain on humanity or something, plus I have a firm belief that all things good have sugar in them and are good for you. I mean I’ve been eating them forever and you don’t see me dying.”

During her tirade Bellamy just crossed his arms and looked at her, waiting for her to be finished. But as soon as the last word escaped her mouth her eyes landed on Clarke and Octavia lit up.

“Oh hi, I’m Octavia and you are.” Octavia stuck out her hand to shake.

Clarke shook it with a smile, her eyes filled with amusement. “I’m Clarke, it’s nice to meet you, and I totally agree by the way. Any food with sugar is a good one.”

Octavia practically beamed, “See Clarke agrees so that settles it.” 

Bellamy rolls his eyes, “I don’t even know how you survive on cheese puffs, or why I bother.”

“That’s the spirit Bell,” Octavia pats his arm before her eyes bulge out of her head, “Are those mega stuf oreos?” and she was off down the aisle. Bellamy let out a loud groan.

“Sorry about her, she’s a handful.”

“I liked her, you guys seem really close.”

Bellamy rubs the back of his neck, a nervous habit. “Yeah, we are.”

Clarke looks at the watch on her wrist, “Shoot, I’ve got to go, but it was nice seeing you, Blake was it?”

“Bellamy. Bellamy Blake.” Bellamy got out watching Clarke as she started to walk away.

“See you around.” Clarke called back with a smile and a wave.

Octavia came back with three different boxes of cookies in her hand and a look on her face. “Shut it O.”

She just cackled.

. . . . . . . . .

Bellamy and Miller were just getting out of the water when he ran into her again, but this time he didn’t actually run into her. Thank god. Miller just noticed her in the distance and waved her over.

“So.” Miller prompted.

Clarke’s eyebrows drew together like she was thinking hard. Miller just waited patiently, like he had done this countless times before. Maybe he had, but Bellamy watched both of them in curiosity.  
“You took your turn too loose, you have to make it tighter. And judges will fault you for whatever it was that you did with your foot in the second wave. But you’re getting better.”

Miller seemed to take the criticism well, mulling it over and storing it for later. Before Miller could say anything else Clarke turned on him.

“You’re really good, but you’re lazy. You have no discipline.”

Bellamy was thrown off guard by the harsh comments and for some reason became defensive. “Right Princess like you could do any better.”

Clarke narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. The motion made her breasts pop up and Bellamy fought to keep his gaze up. She had really nice breasts. 

“Excuse me.” Her voice was steel.

“You heard me Princess.” 

“I’m a four time champion, I know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah well last I heard you haven’t been in the water for over a year, so who knows if you still have it.” Bellamy didn’t know what he was doing. He knew he should stop talking, probably just walk away but he’s an asshole who doesn’t know when to drop it.

Clarke’s jaw ticks, and Bellamy can sense Miller behind him standing tense, ready for the worst.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know anything about me, so don’t pretend like you do.” Clarke growls, and then turns on her heel and stalks away.

“You could just compete against me to see if you still can win.” Bellamy shouts after her.

Clarke freezes for a second, turns to send an icy glare his way, “In your dreams.” and with that she’s gone.

Bellamy stares after her for a moment before groaning, running a hand down his face. Miller is still staring at him, in shock most likely. 

“What the fuck was that?”

“I have no idea Miller. I just- I don’t know.”

. . . . . . . . .

Bellamy was watching Miller ineptly flirt with Miller a week later, waxing his board when it happened. It being Clarke Griffin. Monty stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence to gawk somewhere over Bellamy’s shoulder, Bellamy himself didn’t look back until he saw the shadow drop over him.

Behind him was Clarke, clothed in her wet suit board in hand. Her face was a hard mask.

“Hey Clarke, listen..”

“Are you still up for a competition?”

She was so rigid that it actually frightened Bellamy a little. 

“About that, I was being a dick-”

“Yeah you were, are you still up for a competition?” She repeated.

Bellamy chanced a glance back at Miller who simply shrugged. When he turned back to Clarke he met her hard gaze and nodded. They both got their boards ready in silence, Raven joining Miller and Monty hovering a few feet away. Bellamy didn’t know why but this felt monumental somehow, he kept glancing back at his friends in the hope that they’d clear things up but they looked just as shell shocked as he felt. Clarke on the other hand gave nothing away.

When they got up to go in the water, Raven jogged up and caught Clarke by the arm. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah Rae, I’m sure.”

“Clarke..” Bellamy said uncertainly, but she shook him off.

“Let’s do this.”

Bellamy caught his wave first, but he was too distracted by everything to really do anything spectacular. He rode his wave back onto shore and just watched as Clarke sat on her board, hand just touching the surface of the water face upturned to the sun. Then she looked out to the horizon and started paddling. The wave she caught was beautiful and she gracefully slid through the waves, it was as if her and the water were one entity.

When Clarke came back to shore she was beaming and it was the most beautiful thing Bellamy had ever seen. She came over to where Bellamy was sitting in the sand that smile still on her face.

“I won.”

And then Raven and Miller and Monty were there crowding around her making excited exclamations about how she did.

“This requires a celebratory bonfire tonight.” Monty said excitedly, bouncing on his toes.

“What a fantastic idea Mon” 

Every scurried off to plan and get supplies except Bellamy. He sat on that beach and watched the sun move lower in the sky thinking about the way Clarke’s hair glistened in the sun and the way she came alive in that water.  
. . . . . . . . .

Later when everyone was crowded around the fire passing around Monty’s moonshine(or other alcohol that didn’t taste like gasoline and make you want to die the next day) Clarke sat down next to him. She was so close he could smell the liquor on her breath.

“Do you know why I stopped surfing?”

The question itself wasn’t startling but her tone made Bellamy sit up just a little, pay a little more attention.

“No.”

“It’s because of my dad.” After a short pause, “Or really because of my mom.”

She wasn’t looking at him instead she was staring at the fire. In a burst of bravery Bellamy wrapped his arm around her shoulder, more to reassure her that he was there than anything else. But it didn’t hurt that she snuggled closer, slotting more firmly into his side.

“My dad’s the one who taught me how to surf. He used to say that I could surf before I could walk.” A small smile graced her face and Bellamy didn’t miss the past tense. “He was the best there was. Surfing was what him and I did together. He used to tell me that the call of the ocean is dangerous but I never believed him. How could something so amazing be dangerous? But it was because he drowned last year. He fell off his board and the current dragged him down to the rocky area on the other side of the beach. You would think that after that, after it took my best friend away that I would hate it. But I love it too much. I kept surfing and it didn’t even feel selfish you know. It felt like I was honoring him doing something we both loved. And then my mom saw me out there a month after and she made me promise. She said she couldn’t lose me too. And who was I to do that to my mother. So I stopped.” She heaved out a long sigh wiping away tears. “Until today.”

“Clarke you didn’t have to do that, I tried to apologize before about the way I acted.”

“No, don’t you get it, it was amazing. I wanted to say thank you, for getting me back in the water.”

Bellamy was considerably flabbergasted. After everything she just said and she’s thanking him. And because he didn’t know what to say, he did what he always does and falls back on his assholeness.

“Yeah well good competition never killed anybody.”

Bellamy bite his tongue peeking at Clarke to make sure he hadn’t gone to far when she burst out laughing.

“You’re a dick.” She told him through her laughter. Bellamy just smiled down at her.

. . . . . . . . .

The next days was a work day so Bellamy found himself nursing a hangover while having to deal with customers. He got a job at the local coffee store about a week after he moved and it paid well enough but at the moment he wished he was anywhere else. And when the doorbell chimed he groaned aloud before turning to help whomever walked in. Clarke grinned at him making him glower more at how perky she was when he knows she drank as much, if not more, than he did.

“Fancy meeting you here.” She sing songed practically bouncing to the counter. 

“God how are you this alive right now.”

“Everyday that starts with coffee and a cute guy is a great day for me.”

Before he could focus on the cute guy part of her sentence Clarke barreled on. “Just a coffee with cream and sugar. Anyway I have a proposition for you.”

Bellamy looked around but everything had gotten pretty quiet, the morning rush having just died down. So he got Clarke her coffee shouted to Echo that she needed to cover for him a minute and sat down at an empty table.Clarke sat across from him still endearingly happy.

“So I was thinking, how about we train together?”

“Train for what?” Bellamy asked incredulously.

“There’s a competition coming up at the end of the season and we’d be late registering but I think they’d let me because of my dad.”

“Okay so why do you need to train with me?”

“Well Raven hurt her knee a couple summers back and can’t strain it too much and I tried to ask Miller to train once and it did not turn out well. There was bloodshed.” Clarke winced at the memory, “We work better separately.”

“That still doesn’t explain me though.” Bellamy pointed out.

“Of course it does, I work best when I have competition and obviously you’re up for some.”

Bellamy laughed “So what does training with you include.”

“You get to see me everyday bright and early for a morning workout and then we have to make sure that we stay on track with our diets, I’m not too worried about you though I do recall a conversation you had with your sister after all, and then we surf obviously.”

The schedule she outlined would include everyday interaction with Clarke and Bellamy already knew he was going to say yes but he wanted to hold off for a minute.

“I don’t know Clarke, I have work and my sister..” He began hesitantly.

“Oh come on, your sister is old enough to either hang by herself or tag along and we can train around your work schedule.”

Echo called him back from behind the counter and Bellamy reluctantly got up.

“So what do you say?”

“Alright Princess, I’m in.”

Clarke’s responding smile was worth it.

. . . . . . . . .

Clarke’s smile was not worth this. It was the first week of their training and Clarke was in shape. She was basically dancing around him while he caught his breath from their five mile run.

“Come on Bellamy just two more miles until we get to the beach.” Her chipper tone raked Bellamy’s skin the wrong way.

“You are the worst person I have ever met.” Bellamy huffed. 

But he still straightened out and tried to keep up with her grueling pace. There’s was no way he was giving her the satisfaction of him not making it to the beach. Again. Today he would make it.

Clarke grinned back at him from the few feet Bellamy allowed between them and increased her pace ever so slightly. Bellamy groaned but stayed the course. When they made it to the beach Bellamy collapsed onto the sand, hands above his head trying to regain his breath. Clarke sat gingerly next to him a sheen of sweat on her brow. She handed him a water bottle which he immediately took a giant swig of.

“ I hate you.”

“You made it to the beach.”

At that Bellamy’s lips twitched up despite his effort not to smile. “I made it to the beach.”

“Next time you’ll make it to the water.”

“Oh you wanna go to the water do you Princess?” There was a glint in Bellamy’s eyes as he stood up.

Clarke backed away from him, hands up, “Bellamy no.”

Bellamy just grinned and lunged for her, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her to the water.

“Bellamy put me down!” Clarke shrieked.

“Whatever you say.”

Bellamy dropped Clarke into the water, once under Clarke grabbed at his legs making him lose his balance. They splashed at each other for a while before crawling back out into the sand, Bellamy laying back down Clarke sat next to him. Clarke looked at her watch, stood, then offered her hand to help him up. 

“It’s lunchtime, let’s get something to eat.”

“That’s the best thing you’ve said to me all day.”

“Of course it is I was yelling at you to keep up since I woke you up to go running this morning.”

They continued their banter back and forth walking away from the beach. The first day that Clarke did this he was confused because the shack that sold food on the beach was in the opposite direction. Clarke had only huffed and told him they were going to her house instead. The route there was familiar by now. When they walked through the door shoving at each other lightly they tripped over the shoes in the hall. That’s how Abigail Griffin found the two, still damp from both the run and their dip in the water, clutching each other for balance.

Mrs. Griffin’s eyes were bulging out of her head at the sight. Bellamy and Clarke were just as shocked. But Clarke recovered first.

“Mom! What are you doing home?”

Mrs. Griffin briskly ignored her daughter and focused her stare on Bellamy. He did his best not to squirm.

“Who is your friend dear?” Her tone was brisk and clipped.

“Uh, this is Bellamy Blake. He just moved here.” Clarke was moving on the defense and Bellamy just watched the interaction for a minute.

He stuck out his hand and was acutely aware of the drop of water that dripped to the floor off his extended hand. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Griffin.”

Clarke’s mom looked at Bellamy’s hand until he dropped it back to his side. “Please, call me Abby.”

Bellamy made a vow to never call her that.

“Alright well Bellamy and I were going to make lunch. You can join us if your done doing whatever alpha mom thing you’re doing.” 

Mrs. Griffin looked at Clarke. “I think your friend should go home so we could have a chat.” The same cool tone.

“My friend,” Clarke said pointedly, “Whose name is Bellamy, can stay. “

Mrs. Griffin was suddenly furious. “Oh can he now. I assume he can since my daughter thinks that whatever she says goes.”

Clarke blinked at the sudden attack from her mother, clearly confused at her anger. “What?”

“You lied to me.”

“No I didn’t” 

“You have been out on the water surfing, out in the water doing whatever requires you to look like that” Mrs. Griffin gestures to Clarke in a wide sweeping motion. “You told me you would never go back in that water.”

“Mom it’s not that simple.” Clarke tried to reason but Mrs. Griffin was having none of it.

“If you are to go back to that water you get out of my house.”

Clarke looked like she was slapped. “You’re kicking me out?” Her voice was small and it broke a part of Bellamy’s heart to hear it.

He reached out and wrapped his hand around hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. That seemed to startle her back into action. 

“Fine.” Clarke said with a steely nod and dragged Bellamy up the stairs to her bedroom.

It was there that she began to throw clothes around and put different things into bags. Bellamy heard a door close downstairs and a car pull away from the curb. He hadn’t said anything at all and Clarke looked like she was going to break.

“Clarke” He began but she must not have wanted to hear.

“It’s fine I’ll stay with Raven and if Raven doesn’t want me then I’ll figure it out. I just have to get these things packed and I can figure it out.”

Bellamy walked up to her and grabbed her frantic hands to still her. “Clarke.”

“I’ll figure it out.” She whispered. and then she burst into tears.

Bellamy enveloped her into his arms and just held her while she cried for a minute. He smoothed her hair from her face and made a rash decision.

“You can stay with me.”

“What?”

“Yeah, my mom’s never around so it’s just me and Octavia. It would be so easy for us to keep training you know living in the same space and all. Octavia can be annoying but she might leave you alone..” 

“Bellamy.”

“However that might not be too likely..”

“Bellamy.”

“What.”

“That sounds great.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“Alright Princess let’s go then.”

. . . . . . . . .

Living with Clarke is both amazing and awful. For one, he gets to see her in the morning before she’s had coffee, to see her hang out with Octavia, and to generally relax. One time he walked in on them painted their toenails and trading whispers. When they saw him standing there he was immediately kicked out with the claim that it was a girls night. 

On the other hand, Clarke wears sports bras to bed, and she’ll walk around in nothing but a towel for a while after she showers and none of that is good for his health.

But for the most part everything is going great. She even met his mom. 

. . . . . . . . .

 

“Oh. And who are you?” said his mother from the doorway of the kitchen.

Bellamy was making pancakes for breakfast and Clarke was hopped up on the counter next to the stove so she could be in charge of chocolate chips. She had informed him that it was a very serious job and her chocolate chip to pancake ratio was legendary. She was loud and confident at the time, now under the gaze of his mom she shrunk away shy.

“Hey mom, this is Clarke.” Bellamy turned back to his pancakes.

“Hi.” Clarke waved feebly.

“Did you stay the night sweetheart?” Aurora asked kindly.

Bellamy let out a soft snort and Clarke kicked him in the side. Clarke had been staying the night for close to a month now.

“Yes I did, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all dear.” Aurora rummaged through the cabinets and found where O hid the pop tarts.

“Mom, you’re not eating breakfast?”

“'Fraid I have to dine and dash, those tables won’t wait themselves.” Aurora kissed Bellamy’s hair and smiled warmly over at Clarke. “Now my boy better be treating you right.” At that Clarke blushed fiercely and Bellamy let out a protest of “Moooom”. 

“Mom?” Octavia walked in the kitchen still bleary eyed from sleep.

“Hey kiddo, sorry I can’t stay.” With that Aurora placed a kiss on Octavia’s head, same as Bellamy’s, and skirted out the door.

“So that was the famous Aurora Blake.” Clarke said breaking the quiet.

“Yep.” Bellamy replied popping the p obnoxiously. “Breakfast is served.”

“Bellamy made pancakes!” Octavia woke up instantly at the sight making both Bellamy and Clarke laugh.

. . . . . . . . .

The rest of the summer was much the same. Clarke would wake Bellamy up for their run, and if Bellamy wasn’t working they’d surf until nightfall where they would go back to Bellamy’s house and cook dinner. Sometimes they’d be too tired to do anything but fall asleep but other nights they’d stay up and watch whatever movie was on TV. Weekends were their only reprieve. On the weekends they didn’t go on runs or train at all, they still headed out to the beach though.

That’s when they saw their other friends. Found out that Monty had finally kissed Miller and that Raven was trying to skateboard instead of surfing. The weekend was when they relaxed soaking in the sun and the salt water that they all loved so much. Until the last week of summer.

The competition was on Saturday, so the gang was meeting on Friday to try and calm their nerves.

Monty passed around his moonshine in Bellamy’s living room. Bellamy so wanted to snatch it out of Raven’s hand and take a large swig to assuage his nerves. Clarke must have noticed because she entwined her fingers with his and squeezed. “It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah you say that like a four time champion Princess.”

Clarke gave him a look like she can’t figure him out. He can tell she’s thinking hard because of the crease that forms between her eyebrows.

“Where did that come from? Princess I mean?”

Bellamy hesitated, “Well, you were always kind of regal to me. The first time I met you, your hair did this thing,” He made a vague gesture with his free hand, “and it reminded me of a crown on a princess.”

Clarke hummed in acknowledgment and they just sat together the rest of the night, fingers wrapped together, with their friends.

. . . . . . . .

Upon waking up, Bellamy found his mouth full of Clarke’s hair. Instead of moving away from her curled into his body, Bellamy pressed his nose into her neck. Clarke shifted in his arms waking up. She sat up so abruptly that Bellamy jolted too.

“It’s competition day.” She breathed. 

He was so startled by her outburst that he just watched her. She looked back at him and smiled “How about you whip everyone up some breakfast.”

Bellamy looked around the room at his sleeping friends and then back at her. “Sure thing Princess.”

Her smile just got wider.

At the smell of food, everyone roused themselves from where they fell asleep. And in various states of wakefulness came into the kitchen. The morning seemed like a blur of blonde hair and getting ready. Clarke was all over the place, cleaning, getting gear together, and she didn’t settle down until everyone was situated on the beach to watch the competition.

She was so jumpy Bellamy couldn’t help but think of the first time they competed against each other. She was so rigid then and it was hard to believe that this could be the same person.

“Are you alright?” He asked concerned after the fourth time she scanned the crowd.

“She didn’t come.”

Clarke didn’t have to say who didn’t come, he knew exactly who didn’t come. Abigail Griffin was notably absent from the crowd and it was making Clarke antsy.

“I’ve never competed without either of them here before.” Clarke’s voice was nothing but a whisper barely heard over the announcer calling their bracket to swim out.

Clarke moved mechanically toward the water but Bellamy grabbed her arm before she got too far.

“You’re going to be great and your dad would be so proud.”

Clarke gave him a watery smile before turning back to the water. The competition seemed to last only a few seconds, Clarke’s wave was beautiful and her skills earned her three 9.7s across the board. Bellamy’s own score were straight 7s. When they meet each other back on shore, Clarke with a shiny gold trophy and a smile as wide as the ocean itself, no one can blame Bellamy for kissing her. He’d been having trouble not kissing her for a while anyway.

At the first press of his lips Clarke surged upward to meet him, Bellamy vaguely recognized his friends wolf whistling behind him.

“You did amazing Clarke.” Bellamy said into her cheek.

“So did you. We worked really hard for it.”  
Bellamy gave her one last kiss before turning towards their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is inspired by Chasing Mavericks which I think is an underrated movie. But I have a soft spot for cute boys in sports movies. Thanks for reading you rock.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you like what I've come up with. Sorry if there's a mess in the grammar or anywhere, but it's just me and I hate editing, so. Feel free to send me suggestions


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